Servoy Forum

My question is a little off topic, but prompted by the 2-way sockets/firewall settings available for Servoy.

From time to time I need to provide remote assistance to remote sites, viewing the screen and taking control of the keybaord and mouse.

I have used this feature in WINXP with variable success depending on firewalls at the other end. For cross-platform (Mac/Win) I've also tried VNC in its various flavours (see http://www.realvnc.com ) also with variable success.

I'd like to allow the users to initiate a remote assist session from within a servoy solution, avoiding the firewall pitfalls. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

You can run/start an application from within Servoy. Look in the application tree and you will find executeProgram. For the correct use of it you should search in the form or look in the docs. Don't know that by heart.

Hi Antonio,

MaJic provide this level of real time remote support for the majority of our clients.

We have always used either VNC or Timbuktu to control the remote machine(s)

Invariably, we have always configured VPN connections to the clients sites with their consent.

This has allowed us to circumvent these firewall issues and establish secure access.

As for users initiating remote assist sessions - I am unsure what you mean here ?

Using MaJic support as an example, the client simply calls our 1st line support and they assess the problem and if online activity is required then they open the VNC connection to the site.

Perhaps you can explain what you want to do here in a little more detail

Cheers
Harry

Hello Harry,

Simply put, I want a reliable method to establish a VNC connection to a remote site, in order to provide online assistance when required - pretty much what you describe. Ideally, this connection could be established from a help/support form within the Servoy solution, suited to people with limited computer knowledge.

By 'initiate remote assistance' I was referring to the Win XP feature under Help. It's MS platform specific and functions like VNC, but it's just an example, not the path I want to go down.

Timbuktu looks great, but comes with a hefty price tag. VNC is more my price range

Your solution with VPN sounds perfect, though I haven't had a lot of experience in setting this up for different platforms. I have both MAC and WIN users. Can you tell me, does it take a lot to set it up at remote sites?

Hi Antonio

Another alternative is www.gotomypc.com/ - starts at US$20/mth for single connection but drops significantly if you need more.

You have full control over the remote computer including rebooting and start/stop Servoy etc. Person on remote computer can see what is happening and has ability to stop session at any time so it's secure for clients.

May be worth looking at as they have a 30 day free trial and very easy to setup.


Regards

Graham Greensall
Worxinfo Ltd

Hi Antonio,

How easy it is to set up can depend upon any number of factors - some restricted from the client end.

We tend to use a limited number of types of router where we have experience [Cisco, Linksys, Draytek]

Most routers allow you a browser configuration interface where you can set up your security levels for firewall and vpn access - Cisco tend to still be from the command line.

Generally they are not the complex beasts that they once were and they usually come with good help & support forums to assist

Cheers
Harry

I have been trying out http://www.BeamYourScreen.com product and its been real useful, cross platform, gotten thru firewalls etc. Easy to set up and pricing starts at 25 USD/mo.

jim c

PS I don't work for the company.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Harry, regarding the VPN idea, most of my customers are private individuals working from home, with 'personsal' type firewalls on their OS, and possibly some firewall functionality within their ADSL modems (eg NATS - network address translation?).

My experience is mostly with WINXP, and I've found it pretty easy to set up VPN at the client end (for another purpose). Haven't looked into MACs yet.

antonio wrote:My question is a little off topic, but prompted by the 2-way sockets/firewall settings available for Servoy.

From time to time I need to provide remote assistance to remote sites, viewing the screen and taking control of the keybaord and mouse.

I have used this feature in WINXP with variable success depending on firewalls at the other end. For cross-platform (Mac/Win) I've also tried VNC in its various flavours (see http://www.realvnc.com ) also with variable success.

I'd like to allow the users to initiate a remote assist session from within a servoy solution, avoiding the firewall pitfalls. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

We use http://www.readytalk.com for user help desk. If you have session open a simple URL call from within Servoy will log the user into your conference. 9 months ago Ready Talk had by far the best performance (VNC speed) when directing from a Mac (a key for us) of all the products that we tested (which was everything we could find). And it is really cheap (we use it constantly for $40/month...some other services were charging $300/month for much slower performance).

For direct access to a computer of course you need solutions like VNC, TB2, ARD, etc. Each one of these requires some setup on the target computer and usually the firewall. For help desk work we found this route to be too inconvenient.

http://www.gotomypc.com/ does seem to be the best of both worlds. Minimal install and no firewall issues. That is if it is faster than it was 9 months ago and works on macs. Will have to check it out again. This industry niche is a moving target right now for sure.

GotoMyPC had a significant upgrade couple of months ago which improved speeds considerably - but still PC only. You'll have to get a dual-boot MacBook Pro David

Another PC-only product that would be expensive for frequent use but OK for one-off connections is Co-Pilot from Joel Spolky's Fog Creek company - https://www.copilot.com/

Graham Greensall
Worxinfo Ltd

You could also take a look at LogMeIn

https://secure.logmein.com/go.asp?page=home

Reed

Just read someplace (can't remember where) PCAnywhere made it's appearance for OSX

antonio,

does this come close to what you were looking for? It creates a little customizable vnc exe that will just connect to your ip. The consumer clicks it and you are presented with their screen.

http://www.uvnc.com/addons/singleclick.html

Is a little customizable also, icon, text etc.

jim c

and free too! right in my price range. Thanks for the tip. I'll also need something for the mac. There's something on their website that indicates that it's possible.

http://forum.ultravnc.net/viewtopic.php ... hlight=mac

The mac is even much much simpler. In System preferences, sharing you can set Apple Remote Desktop, when you go to the ARD properties you will see that it is possible to check VNC and set a password...